Queens of Heart: Community Therapists in Drag

I was happy to watch this film about a local legend here in Portland. Darcelle XV is the type of club that people go to in order to experience something new or to be part of a family. This feeling of belonging is apparent in the film among Darcelle and the other performers.

There is also a sense of analysis in the film over the people who go to the club and those who participate. Dressing in drag has a full gamut of responses and opinions from those who go to the club. People go to have fun, but at the same time there are some people who are fearful or apprehensive of things they either do not understand or do not related to for one reason or another. Even though I was already somewhat familiar with the club, this movie has given me additional insight on a phenomenon that is outside of my own life, but still within my own community.

If you are from Portland, live in the area, or just want to know more about a local legend you should definitely watch this film. It is only a slice of the real thing. Hopefully after watching it you will have a greater respect for the club and urge you to go check it out.

I tend to avoid movies about drag performance because they so often try to scintillate or romanticize under the guise of serious documentary inquiry. Not so for Queens of Heart. This is an intellectually honest and simultaneously witty account of the role that drag performance plays in communities - in particular for audiences who are torn between their own sexual needs (regardless of sexual orientation) and the display rules imposed on them by their religious norms. The documentary manages to link the viewer emotionally to both, performers and audiences, but also provokes a lot of thought about how judgmental people are - oneself included - without becoming didactic. Queens of Heart also pulls of another trick: it can be viewed by non-academic audiences for an entirely informative and satisfying experience; but it also provides enough psychological and/or political theory that the academic types can fry their brains for days. And have I mentioned the music? There is some new and truly amazing stuff in there next to the old warhorses. In sum: it's a documentary well worth your time.

This documentary, a sensitive and humorous portrayal of an iconic drag club in Portland, Oregon, is enormously enjoyable and fascinating. It is very thought-provoking in that it challenges conventional views about gender and ordinary people's reactions to drag queens. The film causes the viewer to ask interesting questions about the politics of humour and what makes something funny. It includes some great music and gives a real feel of what it would be like to visit this unique club. It also highlights how Darcelle, the owner of the club and an amazing drag performer, is an unlikely but convincing community worker. The film is riveting and well worth watching.

I have never seen a documentary like this, particularly in how it probes ways of looking at erotic performances. It's set in a famous drag club in the Pacific Northwest, and captures the feel of a mill town along the Willamette River where lead performer Darcelle was raised. The film explores Darcelle's childhood--not in search of the tragedy or trauma that led him to become a drag performer, but to explain how he learned to be such a keen observer of human behavior. The community therapist theme is not taken too far, and is particularly convincing as various audience reactions are "diagnosed." Director Haaken skillfully turns the camera from the performers (why they do drag) to the audience members (why they watch). Unlike Paris is Burning, which also explores the lives of men in a drag club, Queens of Heart draws out the intelligence and warmth of the characters. They all draw boundaries with where and how to be touched, and are as wide a range of types as any group of everyday guys.

Queens of Heart, a short film about drag performance, delivers all the scope and depth of a feature length documentary, and does it better than any of those I've seen. I found it altogether informative, deliciously entertaining and thought provoking. The film brings the viewer into the longest running drag club in the nation, a place I might never have ventured into on my own, and engages intimately in conversation with Darcelle, the club's founder and primary star, as well as other performers and guests. What an astounding revelation, that here are ordinary people from all parts of the community; people who work in the club and people who come for a novel night out—the "bachelorette" parties, celebrations of coming out, coming to terms with other aspects of gender and identity, or just for fun. The filmmaker brings to her perspective on the club a deeply human and personal portrayal of Darcelle's origins in a small logging community near Portland, shows the evolution of the club itself, and highlights the special therapeutic role that Darcelle has played in the community. Moreover, the director creatively reveals a theoretical side of what makes drag performance so funny. In this regard the film tickles our brains, our hearts, and our funny bones all at once.